Keeping the Proper Perspective on Guns and Massacres

Newspapers on and off line, Facebook, TV networks and other sources are going through their over-wrought routines of anguish about the Newton massacre. It was terrible no doubt. Almost every condemning adjective available applies. But events like this is do bring out gross exaggerations.
Take a look at Peter Wehner's comments about Mike Huckabee's suggestion that the massacre happened because God is not allowed in the schools . As another example, one friend of mine posted this on Facebook:
Nicolas Kristof has said
More Americans die in gun homicides and suicides in six months than have died in the last 25 years in every terrorist attack and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.
Kristof gives the data on the deaths in the two wars but supplies no data on the number of deaths in the unspecified six months he mentions. The statement he makes appears to be a gross exaggeration. I can find no data to support his statement.
Let us look at good data. Of 74 school...(Read Full Post)